Love happens when least expected

Hello my friends, your recent comments, insights and contributions, particularly the ones to Terry’s brief letter to Candy, are greatly appreciated. ❤️ I’d like to point out that I have double checked Terry’s farewell note to her before leaving St. Paul’s Academy. He used ぼく (boku) in that one too. Perhaps that was his writing style, or he did that just in case anyone else found it before Candy did.

Those of you who have ordered the Spanish version but not yet received your copy of the Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), you might want to check Myra’s comparisons of different translations of this famous letter. Like Myra, I was surprised that both French and Spanish translators have decided to omit “since then”. The literal translation should be “since that thing/event, you know” with the implication that Candy knew what he meant, and I think it’s rather important. However, the French translation did correctly convey that Terry did not mean to wait another half a year.

The more I think about it the more I am convinced “that event” was not Susanna’s death. Remember, Terry might be in his late twenties or older by then, and he should not be so selfish to have wished Candy had not moved on in her life. As a matter of fact, if Terry was eager to reunite with Candy, why did he decide to wait for a year first? Then another half a year had passed before he made up his mind (思い切って). Sadly, many Terry fans have jumped to conclusion. I’ve done a quick Google search of Chinese Candy Candy fan sites and found the first result page full of the same claim — that Candy was married to/reunited with Terry simply because they had learned about Susanna’s demise in CCFS, published in late 2010. Honestly, there are other clues that are not supporting Terry as Anohito. For example, please read Fay’s comment about the roses taken care by Candy herself and Anita’s analysis of Anohito’s personality traits.

I did not check if those websites have been updated since. In general, pro-Terry fans have been evidently unwilling to open their eyes. The public ranting on Facebook or YouTube against the editor of the Spanish version of Candy Candy Final Story are eyebrow-raising to say the least. They went so far as to demand the restructuring of the novel! For your interest, please read the comment section of my previous post, in particular this comment from Anita. (By the way, it’s been an honour and a privilege chatting with you all, and since some of you are fluent in several languages, I have learned a lot from you as well. 🤩 )

Also, thank you Louna for sharing the answers from Carles the editor with us. Although I don’t agree with his perspectives entirely, I think he brought up very good points about Candy’s different stages in her life, which correspond to the three parts in the novel. Carles also mentioned the well-known “three loves” essay in another debate session. Because of this, my friend Candy Albert has shared with me yet another website called Candy Candy bootlegs. Despite its strange name, it consists of various discussions or interviews concerning Candy Candy, including the interviews of Nagita and Iagrashi. Candy Albert has probably shared this on her Facebook page already (William Albert Andrew (el príncipe de la colina)).

Today, I’m going to translate two interviews shown on a page in Candy Candy Bootlegs. The first interview is about Candy’s three loves, very similar to the one published in a bimonthly magazine, “Jidou-bungei” in 1980, which was also published in the book “Interviews with manga authors” by Osamu Takeuchi / Tomohiko Murakami, in 1989:

«けれど、テリイと別れることは初めから決っていたのだ。キャンディには三つの愛を考えていた。アンソニーとの淡いはかない初恋、テリイとの激しい恋、そしてアルバートさんとの運命的な穏やかな愛。»

Most Candy Candy fans know that Nagita sensei had planned in the beginning to separate Terry and Candy, but on the other hand, Albert and Candy were destined to be together. Albert’s love is calm, placid, serene, kind, etc., and in CCFS, Candy herself said Albert gave her a marvelous sense of security.

The interview shown in Candy Candy bootlegs was slightly different but very similar. It was published in “Candy Candy” Encyclopedia by Keibunsha on June 25, 1980. You can scroll down the page until you see the words 三つの愛 (three loves). Right below that you see Nagita sensei (using her pen name Mizuki) and her dog. The picture was taken at the French Chateau Hotel where she wrote the final episode. Below is the summary of her interview, followed by my attempt to translate (I tried not to paraphrase):

(summary) Ignoring the common practice to this day (of writing) about an orphan looking for the mother, (this is about) an optimistic/positive girl’s three loves in her life — her first love was Anthony, short-lived but transparent; his love was gentle and nothing more. The next one was the intense love of youth with Terry, and they had to separate despite being in love. The last one I wrote Candy with Albert, his love peaceful and gentle.

About Anthony’s love, the meaning is “his love is gentle only”, but it sounds very odd in English. About Terry’s love, some people have translated 激しい to violent or passionate, but I’d rather pick “intense”. 😉 In my humble opinion, if he had been passionate he would not have left London so easily. Also, 青春 means youth or about being young, so not necessarily restricted to adolescence.

The other interview on the same page is more interesting to me, because I’ve never read anything like this before. Just scroll up a bit until you see the words “1978年6月”. You see two magazine pages with the title “第4部はどうなる？” (What’s going to happen in Volume 4) and the drawings of Candy, Anthony and Terry at the top right corner.

For those who don’t know, the manga was serialized in a magazine called Nakayoshi 『なかよし』 . In May 1978, Volume 3 of Candy Candy was completed. Yet, in June, instead of continuing the story in Volume 4, the magazine showed “Emergency interview of Igarashi and Mizuki sensei: what’s going to happen in Volume 4?” The following is the outline of the first half of the interview (my translation is italicized in parentheses, and again, I tried my best to stick to the original without much paraphrasing). If someone can translate it better, please kindly let me know:

テリィとキャンディのこれからは……？(Terry and Candy after this…?)
編集部：第三部は、キャンディとテリィの別れというおもいがけない結末で、読者からもたいへんな反響がよせられています。そこでズバリおききしたいのですが、これからの二人はどうなるのでしょう？テリィはもう、第四部には登場しないのですか？(Editor: The ending of Volume 3, namely, Candy breaking up with Terry, is unanticipated. Lots of reactions (feedback) have been received from the readers. I’d like to ask you directly, after this what’s going to happen between the two? Will Terry no longer appear in Volume 4?)

いがらし先生：そんなことはないですよ。(Igarashi sensei: That’s not true.)

編集部：ということは、二人はまたむすばれるかも？(Editor: So, will the two be together again, perhaps?)

水木先生：さあ、どうかしら……。それはご想像におまかせします。(Mizuki sensei: Well, I don’t know… I will leave it to you to imagine that.)

編集部：ひょっとして、テリィにかわる新しい男性があらわれるとか？(Editor: By any chance, will a new man appear to replace Terry, something like that?)

いがらし先生：これだけはハッキリいえますが、キャンディはそんなに浮気な女の子じゃないです。(Igarashi sensei: Only this I can clearly say, Candy is not such a fickle girl.)

水木先生：そう、二人の愛は、青春をかけた真剣な愛だったはずです。ただ一ついえることは、人間にはいろんな愛がありますね。だからキャンディに、テリィの場合とはまったくちがった大きな意味での愛が、また生まれる可能性はあります。(Mizuki sensei: That’s right. Their young love is supposed to be serious. The only thing I can say is this, there are many kinds of love. Hence, for Candy, there is a possibility a significant love, which is completely different from Terry’s case, will come into existence.)

編集部：そうですか。でも、キャンディがあまりにもかわいそうという声が多いのですが、第四部ではかの女はしあわせになれるでしょうか？これは、すべての読者の願い、いや祈りだと思うのですが……。(Editor: Is that so? Still, many express that Candy is excessively miserable, but in Volume 4 will she become happy? I think this is the wish of all readers, well, their plea (prayer)… )

いがらし先生：あたしたちも、心からそうなるように望んでいます。(Igarashi sensei: So do we. I sincerely hope that will happen.)

水木先生：第四部も、キャンディにとってはけっして平たんな道ではないけれど、かの女なら負けないわよ。 (Mizuki sensei: Although it is by no means a smooth path for Candy in Volume 4 either, she will not be defeated.)

第4部はどうなる？ (What’s going to happen in Volume 4)

In the original text, it was the “Editorial team” who asked the questions, but I simply put “Editor”. The longest answer from Nagita sensei (as Mizuki sensei back then) about the potential new love completely different Terry’s case is not easy to translate. The adjective 大きな can mean significant, crucial, great, large, and so on, and 意味 is significance, meaning, sense, etc. The term 生まれる Nagita sensei used literally means “being born”.

I can hardly imagine how the readers would react back then when reading this interview. There were unknowns and uncertainties, and some were probably still very upset about the break up. With hindsight, the hint provided by Nagita sensei can’t be more obvious. She had to keep it a secret that Candy’s next love would be Albert. Many must have been shocked to find out Albert was actually William A. Ardlay or Prince on the Hill near the end of the manga version.

One of the Chinese websites that I mentioned above even said that Albert’s first appearance was unimpressive/unattractive (毫不起眼) and mysterious/incognito (身份神秘) until the very last episode. All in all, this webpage owner sounded nonchalant. I suppose s/he had probably not read the manga? Oh well… it’s too bad for him/her. S/he missed the essence of the Candy Candy story, IMHO. 😉 As I said before, it was the story between Candy and her prince, the first and last guy in her life.

In the manga, Albert was undoubtedly in love with Candy, but his feelings were subtle when compared to Albert in CCFS. “Love happens when least expected” applied to both Candy and Albert. They had not seen it coming, and neither had the readers.

This reminds me of the debate amongst some Candy Candy fans in a Facebook group years ago. Back then, most of us had not read the Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), only the spoilers or snippets, so our arguments were mainly based on the manga version.

The debate was about when exactly Albert read Candy’s diary. The diary is not in the manga (or the old CC novel?), and it is what I consider one of the most outstanding additions in CCFS. Some believed Albert read it when he was in Africa before he left, and some figured he didn’t get to read it until after he returned to Georges after having recovered from amnesia. Some even said Georges did not have the heart to show the young heir the diary until he asked about it (say, after Albert had moved out of the House of Magnolia). I belonged to those who thought that Nagita sensei was cruel if Albert read the diary after recovering from amnesia.

In the manga, he found himself fallen for the kind nurse upon his recovery, and in CCFS Nagita sensei even extended their time living together — roughly two years or more — but also deliberately made Albert cut all ties with Georges when he set off for Africa. Therefore, Georges had no way to inform his boss that Candy had suddenly left St. Paul’s Academy, leaving something wrapped for William A. Ardlay. Back then Candy expected Granduncle William would want to know why she decided to quit school, and she believed he would understand her if he read her diary that explained it all.

I wonder how Albert felt when he was reading the diary while being in love with Candy! Yes, he was fully aware of her unmistakable feelings for Terry, but it’s a different matter when reading her own words about loving Terry more than anyone else (if you like to know more, you might find it interesting why Candy used 大好き daisuki to express her feelings even in her diary). Consider the following: was Albert motivated to track down Terry because of the content of her diary?

It is unfortunate the details of how or why Candy ended up going to Rockstown to find Albert is lacking in CCFS, so I assumed it’s the same as shown in the manga version — Albert tricked Candy by sending her a parcel from Rockstown with his note.

What was Albert thinking? Do you think it’s safe to assume that he somehow knew she missed him very much and was desperate to look for him?

Needless to say, the outcome of the trip to Rockstown must have taken Albert by surprise. Some time later, in her unsent letter to Terry, Candy was quite certain that Albert had read her diary, where she had been honest and candid about her thoughts, feelings and opinions. She wrote どんな顔をしてあの日記を読んだのかしら。Literally this meant “what kind of face did he make after reading that diary, I wonder”. 😀 Then she added that “even now neither of us can broach the subject”.

Note that she never planned to send this letter to Terry or anyone else, so she basically was talking to herself about Albert. Come to think of it, if he had been a father figure or remained a brother/friend to her, why did she care about his reactions? Wasn’t she the one who requested to pass it to Granduncle William?

Candy said she was able to tell Albert everything, right? If not, she would not have agreed to “share a sandwich” with him. She even told him about Prince on the Hill and showed him the badge, countless times. If I’m not mistaken, she never told Terry about her prince (lest he would be jealous?). Hence, since when the subject of Terry became so sensitive that neither Albert nor Candy would take the step to bring it up?

Remember, Candy wrote that in present tense, and in the following paragraph she told Terry that Albert had not confessed to her right after he had regained his memory. She then described Albert as someone with many mysteries (謎が多い）, in present tense as well. It seems to me she sensed something was going on between them. The fact why he couldn’t immediately tell her his recovery might have opened her eyes. In her recollections, she did mention it was different living with a family member and Albert occupied a special place in her heart. As she wondered how he felt (about her?), she suddenly made an exasperating remark. 😉

So when did Candy write this unsent letter? We know that she wrote it at Pony’s Home and congratulated Terry’s long-run performance and success as Hamlet in this letter. It was so popular that they would perform in England. If Terry returned to New York soon after he saw Candy in that roadside theatre, it would take him a considerable time to re-establish his career as an actor. Do you think Stratford would give him important roles right away? Likely not. Maybe at least two years had elapsed since her trip to Rockstown, by then her feelings for Albert, also known as Granduncle William to others, were still strong, so much so that she talked about Albert here and there in her letter to Terry.

Candy didn’t get her diary back until her day trip to Lakewood with Albert. Another year or so had passed by, probably? Yet, their relationship was no longer platonic, and Albert was ready to return her precious item (大事なもの), despite having a hard time concealing his unease.

I still think Nagita sensei was cruel to make Albert read the diary when being in love with Candy (and hiding from her). However, this precisely makes his action — the return of her diary — admirable. Prior to that, Candy was not shy to let him know her deep feelings for him, and Albert took the initiative to reveal his childhood nickname to her and let her call him with that name, which made her feel exhilarated. Who would blame him even if he decided to bury the diary? Yet, he put her happiness or wishes before his own. In other words, he did not want to be her second best, and she had to make a conscious choice. No wonder Nagita sensei said that Albert’s love was completely different from Terry’s love.

This is my advice to those fans who have made bizarre requests to the Spanish editor to restructure the novel. Please read the novel, especially section 3, carefully and stop looking for clues. It’s the content of Candy and Albert’s letters that truly matters, not where they are placed in the book. LOL. 😀